The Key to the Oleander

Chapter Twenty Two - Athena

"Good night, love. These next few weeks are going to be harder." Ace says, almost as a warning. I sit up from my lying position, holding myself up by my elbows.

The lights are off, all I can see is the shadow of him standing in front of the bed.

"Good night, Ace." I crawl down the bed and kiss his cheek before falling back down on my back.

He walks over to his side and lies next to me, pulling my body against his with his arm wrapped around me.

I rest my head on his bare chest, he reaches his hand over my head to play with my hair and I close my eyes.

I watch as swords clash, bullets going straight through the flesh of a person. Screams one after another cry out to the sky.

I look around frantically, but pause once I see a familiar face.

Ace.

I begin to run over to him, the bodies and weapons go straight through me like I'm a ghost, I keep running.

I only have a little left to run, but the sight before me forces my feet to stop.

Ace. A man. A man swinging his sword right into Ace's chest. Miles. Wait- Miles?

I try my best to shake the shock away and run to his side.

"Ace, Ace! It's me!" I cry out, tears streaming down my face. I turn around when I hear a scream. But it's not just any scream, it's mine.

I run across the field and fall right next to where I am now and shake his body, sobbing.

"No! Ace, please wake up. I-" I jolt up, gasping for air.

"Athena? What's wrong? Tell me, love. I'll do whatever you need me to do." Ace sits up, his voice is filled with panic and worry as he tries to rub my back to help me calm down.

I don't think seeing the man you love's death is easy to calm down to.

"You were- You were... dead." I sob into his chest. He holds my head, I feel the familiarity of his lips on the top of my head.

We sit here for what feels like forever, but I needed it. The comfort of Ace being alive and not dead.

"You can't fight in the war, Ace. You can't." I lean back. His face fills with sympathy, but I can tell he's about to deny my request.

"Athena... I can't. My people need me, I'm sorry." He shakes his head.

"I know what I saw. I saw... your death. You will die!" I shake my head. He looks away for a second before looking back at me.

"Athena, it was a dream." He tries to comfort me, but I'm not having it. I know what I saw.

"I'm not lying." I shout. His eyes widen, he shakes his head.

"That's not what I meant!" He exclaims before sighing. "Let's just go back to bed, okay?" His voice softens.

"I need to go take a walk, I'll be back." I throw my legs over on the edge of the bed before stepping down.

I don't hear anything out of him as I walk out of the room.

Our country, Atlas, is never cold. Other countries have winter, freezing weather at least a few months in the year, but Atlas doesn't have any. So, I walk outside with nothing on but shorts, a crop top, and shoes. I hesitate before walking down the same path that I got kidnapped on, but eventually I force myself to head down it.

I'm too lost in my thoughts to notice that I'm a lot farther than I thought I'd be. I don't even recognize my surroundings. A field of purple flowers is the only thing I can see in front of me.

I swear I could see the shape of a person, so I squint my eyes to get a better look. It looks a lot like-

"Athena." Suddenly Felicity's in front of me. I look around me to see if anyone else is around. No one.

"Is Ace going to die?" I can't help but blurt out. Felicity offers me a sad smile that confirms my biggest fear right now.

"I can't have him in the war, I can't-" I thread my hand through my hair.

"You can't mess with fate." She interrupts me.

"What can I do?" I ask, desperately. Her hands reach toward me and I don't back away.

She caresses my face with her hands and answers, "Find the key to the oleander, my angel." And then, she disappears.

I blink, staying completely silent for what feels like forever. Why do I recognize that nickname from?